A ride, a slave, a film feature

Steel Toe

It was a lovely Saturday. A lovely Saturday indeed. I woke up, the sun was shining (not too warm) and the clouds were parted. The ride started with one; just one. Tires inflated, helmet on, map checked, phone, wallet, jacket. Roll out. I met up with the crew at Steel Toe Brewery in St Louis Park just past noon. Then there were 4. Obviously this was the place to start a biking brewery tour, and biking is possibly one of the best ways to make your way from brewery to brewery. No; it is the best way. The bikers started to swarm into this little heaven of a place, and the food guy was warming up his product to get started. Not that beer is ever bad, but this brew is pretty tasty. I've most of their beers before and I started the day with their Rainmaker, a double red ale. A bit harsh to start the day, but I felt like I needed a kick so down it went. And a water (that ain't a glass a vodka above). Waiting for the other half of the caravan, so a Size 7 IPA was ordered up for number 2. IPAs are my general go to, and Size 7 is pretty solid. Very bitter and dry, good hops, and a great color to sit back and enjoy on a warmish cool day. First 1, then 4, minus 1, then 4 more (maybe 5). Sisyphus Brewing was next on the trek and our caravan was on the move down the trail. No, not syphilis; Sisyphus. The guy who was punished to roll the stone up the hill over and over. No? Lets move on. Their beers are simply listed as the type they are, and the bar keep recommended a 10oz pour of their double IPA. No argument here. No patio unfortunately, but a simple indoor place (plus watch dog) with a pair of shuffle board tables. Let the games begin!

 I dusted off the cobwebs and became reacquainted with the rules only to find out that my opponent had quite the handle on the game. A loss was handed to the bearded greats. I teamed up with my broflofski for round 2 and we edged them out. Double IPA down, 2 games under the belt, and a swig of good ol' H2O. Lets roll again. Fulton (aka board room F) here we come. Fulton is a staple of the Minneapolis craft beer scene, and for good reason; great placement near Target field, good beer, and always a food truck on hand. I saddled up outside on the patio with a fresh American Pale Ale (The Ringer) and a pulled pork sandwich.










The sandwich was nice and spicy (with lots of green sauce) so the ringer went down almost too fast. Had I known I was gonna spice it up so much I may have gotten a hoppier beer, but alas I wanted something a little lighter than the last few places, and I was too hungry to have planned my beer AND food selection appropriately. My bad; I'll have to give the ringer another go sometime soon when my throat is not delightfully on fire. And delighted I was; the sandwich was from Get Sauced, and it was nothing short of amazing (and massive).
My belly now loaded up for another ride, yet I was not aware of what was to befall me. If I but had my magic 8 ball with me it may have recommended I down another beer, or at the very least hang back in the caravan as we weaved over to Boom Island. Alas it was not to be. This unfortunately is the sour part of this lovely story. Like many of you, I am a slave to technology. I put myself in that position, and I do not blame it, but I am slowly becoming less and less reliant on my own thought or skills. I recently picked up a new phone, and like a silly bastard I assumed everything would work just fine out of the box. Fail. I was in front heading to the next brewery with my GPS locked in on my phone and it spewing out turn by turn directions. I looked behind me to see that the group did not follow. Perhaps they know a different route? Oh well; I've gone this far so no reason to turn back. I have GPS so I'll get there just fine. Then things got a little weird. I know that we were only supposed to be going a mile (1.4 about) and yet I had been pedaling for awhile. I check my phone, and it says to keep going. I go a little further and I notice that the phone is not updating. I stop at a place, typed it in, and the GPS says I'm no where near it even though I'm staring right at it. Sonuvabitch. This is where you find out that I do not know my way around Minneapolis in general, and definitely not wherever the fuck I was right then. I turn off the GPS and just look at a digital map to try and get my bearing. Needless to say I had not been going the correct direction, and not only that but the other brewery (because I had now been gone too long and they moved on) was the even further the opposite direction. Fuck that. I'm tired and I need a beer. I head to Dangerous Man (the next next one on the list). Engh (buzzer sound). Way too packed for my frustrated self. I needed to chillax and gather myself. Strangely enough I recognize the area and figured 612 brewing was just down the street and they have a massive outdoor area. I coast in to rest my weary bones, hit the head, grab my go to (a Rated R), and grab a seat on the patio. I take a sip; its gonna be okay.

Resting w/Rated R

  

My lady came out to comfort me as the sun was heading further west across the world (it was going down) and I ordered up another brew. We eventually met up with what was left of the crew at Dangerous Man (kinda a disappointment actually) and then headed to Bauhaus for a night cap and some bags.

 It was still a pretty awesome ride (even with my personal detour) and I went home to decompress with some television. I decided to sleep in instead of heading out racing the next morning, and got ready for the return of Sunday Movie Night. I'm running low on time and drive so I'll keep this short. We watched Captain America: The Winter Soldier, and it was great. As soon as my father's banter started to be drowned out by my powered bass I was able to settle into the non stop adrenaline packed roller coaster ride that is the Marvel masterpiece known as The Winter Soldier. I'm gonna buy this movie and watch it again, so perhaps I'll fill out a more detailed review. But for now, I give you 6/7 Fox Tails for a fun story, unique twist, aWesome special effects, and the 'what next?!' factor that this movie carries. I just got excited again with only writing that one sentence. Shivers. Half chub. Its the weekend. Take 'er easy.

F#@*ing Great

I like Wes Anderson well enough, but I wouldn't say I seek him out. He has a cult like following for his movies, and although always interesting they don't keep me yearning for the next film. For my regular readers you will notice that this blog is already different; its Thursday. Although Fridays are much lighter, allowing me to apply a generally larger amount of time to this blog, I just had to get this one out. I watched The Grand Budapest Hotel last night with my lady (a huge Wes fan) and I was mesmerized; this film is fucking great. It has many of the regular actors he uses, as well as the standard storybook style almost low budget look special effects and cut scenes. The characters are always very strong and diverse (one reason I enjoy many of his films), but this one really floored me. This movie is a story book come to life. Its more than that though; its a story of action, deceit, love, trickery, life, loss; it has it all. The big sets and vibrant colors are like they're plucked right out of children's book. Not just a children's book, but a book written by a child. A child with a sick,dark sense of humor and strong language. The script is absolutely hilarious, the characters are much too over the top, and the story jumps from mystery to action to romance; and its perfect. It works. The movie is fast paced, but the characters are well fleshed out. The movie is itself a story telling which pieces it together flawlessly. It allows them to jump around at times, but also granting the characters to go into a story and then to literally say 'Fuck it' and just move on. Brilliant. It really does keep you glued to your seat until the end. And then you still don't want to get up; you're just smiling the whole way round your head cuz you can't believe you just had such a great time. I strongly recommend this film to anyone looking for a good, smart, intriguing time. I give this film 7/7 Fox Tails for its fun story, great scenes, excellent acting ( Ralph Fiennes and Tony Revolori nail it), and amazing characters.
Hopefully I'll have some time tomorrow to write up my review of Captain America 2, as well as some mentions of the amazing biking brewery tour last Saturday, and the recent tasting I had at Chow Girls (spoiler alert: super delicious). Almost Friday!

Just Chillin

So whatsup? It's late on a Friday afternoon, but I wanted to get something out for the weekend. Naturally I asked my lady what I should write about; she has the answers to everything and I haven't felt inspired lately since cars are breaking down all around me. Kind of a bummer. Sidenote: the Mini's water pump and thermostat have been successfully installed, so just the measly brakes and turbo oil feed line are up. Anywho, so my lady responded, 'You could write about our pizza making endeavors, moped riding, wedding planning'. The funny thing is that that was all this past weekend. It seems so long ago. If anyone were to ask me, I would have shrugged my shoulders and said, 'I don't know, just chillin'. But now reflecting back, it was a pretty stellar weekend. We started Saturday off by moped'ing around the Minneapolis lakes and accidentally venturing out to Crystal; no worries though, everything is an adventure and exponentially more pleasing when scooting around on an under-powered pocket rocket. PS it was gorgeous out. Seriously though, have you been on a moped? Do you own a moped? Can I have your moped? It is delightfully joyful. Worries don't just melt away, they cease to exist. Its hard to think much at all because you can't stop smiling, laughing, and thinking happy thoughts in general. Pixie dust not necessary; I was flyin'!

The 2 hours was once again not enough, but we had shit to do. And by shit to do, I mean places to go and drink beer. Delicious, delicious beer. It was Lift Bridge Brewery's annual anniversary party, which they call Pickin' and Grinnin'. They allow you to pick fresh hops off the vines in the afternoon which then get used for their fall Harvestor Ale. A fresh hopped IPA? Yes, thank you. They had fresh food, fresh beer, local hops, clean porta johns, and beer. Did I mention beer? Their Hop Dish IPA is one of the best in the business. This weekend (and Saturday) was turning out pretty fine indeed.
We headed back toward Minneapolis in search of more food, and then decided to continue on with my brother to a Moon Festival party being hosted by one of his pals/co-workers. The co-worker's lady friend in fact, as she was of Chinese descent. More food, a few more cocktails, new people, the stars, a great patio. Life is rough, ain't it? The party moved to the Lyn Lake area late into the night on the quest to find karaoke at the local VFW. The VFW was found, but alas the karaoke was already overrun. So we settled for PBR and rail whiskey. (insert grimacing face here). The night (more like morning) ended with a poorly played game of bags at the bar across from the VF dub, and a safe drive back with Uber. 
Now it was time to relax. I mean, its Sunday; that's what you do. What? What's that you say? There's american football on today? Decision made. So we invite a few peeps over (translated: my 18 thousand siblings. You couldn't have just stopped, could you? You had to have seven!? Whatev; we're adults and they're cool now).

    First game at noon, home made cheesy garlic bread (add black olives for the second one) shortly after. Cracked a PBR, and then made what turned out to be delicious jalapeno macaroni n cheese pastry bites. Yup, those are making the cut for next game. Alas the weekend was coming to an end, just as it is about to start once again. A weekly rebirth. On tap THIS weekend: a biking brewery tour around Minneapolis, autocrossing at DCTC, and the return of Sunday Movie Night showing the fresh to DVD (or in my case Bluray) Captain America: Winter Soldier. And yes, there will be pizza. What will your weekend hold? Take 'er easy.